LOCALS: Coombes' quintet leads FCSC

FC Santa Clarita's inaugural National Premier Soccer League home game couldn't have started much worse. Three minutes in and the Phoenix Monsoon were celebrating.

The next hour was an onslaught, with the Storm -- formerly Rattlers FC in the Antelope Valley -- scoring nine goals, five of them before halftime, en route to a simple triumph Saturday in the West Division's Southern Conference.

Tyler Coombes (Palmdale/Palmdale HS and Cal State L.A.) was chosen the NPSL's national player of the week after scoring five goals. He had a hat trick by the 43rd minute.

He netted one goal more than Jason Jones in Northern Conference leader Sacramento Gold's 9-0 destruction of the San Francisco Stompers the following day.

FCSC (1-0-1) is second in the NPSL West-Southern, two points behind the Fullerton Rangers (2-0-0), who notched their second shutout victory as Eder Roldan and David Arvizu scored second-half goals to beat visiting FC Hasental, 2-0, on Sunday. Hasental, from the Conejo Valley, has been shut out in each of its first two games.

Fullerton visits Santa Clarita on Saturday evening. The game is at Valencia High School and begins at 6.

USL PRO: The L.A. Blues were the fifth team in the third-division league, of five, to drop their home opener, falling to the Rochester Rhinos on Tam McManus' goal. Defending champ Orlando City ended the skid, romping to a 4-1 victory over Wilmington behind USL Pro Player of the Week John Rooney. Man United superstar Wayne Rooney's little brother, who last year was with the New York Red Bulls, scored two goals and assisted the third.

The big news in Fullerton was the attendance: 2,432, roughly 53.6 percent of last year's gate for all 12 league home games. It's the No. 4 mark in USL Pro so far, behind the totals at home openers in Orlando (8,421), Richmond (5,009) and Charleston (4,729).

U.S. OPEN CUP: Napoli, from the Central Coast Soccer Association, will represent Southern California in the U.S. Club Soccer qualifying final Sunday in Fresno after Zicuiran 28, from The Angels Confrontation in L.A., withdrew from the competition. Napoli faces Stanislaus United Turlock Express at Chukchansi Park, and the winner plays April 28 at the NPSL's Bay Area Ambassadors for a berth in the 64-team field.

Two more berths will come from the U.S. Adult Soccer Association's Region IV tournament, which we've been told will be played May 4-6 in Ontario. No other details are out yet.